A long gun is a firearm with an extended barrel, usually designed to be fired braced against the shoulder. Barrels of such weapons commonly extend to around 50 cm or longer, giving considerable accuracy and range. Most modern long guns fall into one of two categories, rifles or shotguns, distinguished by their design and type of projectile they fire.
Shotguns are designed primarily to fire small pellets, called shots. Some shotguns can be adapted to fire a single projectile, called a slug.
There are several major components of shotguns: the barrels, stocks, and forends or forearms. Shotguns are distinguished by the length of their barrels, and by their barrel diameters, or bores. The barrels, stocks, and forends vary according to the gun's design and intended use.
By far the most common gauges for barrels are 12 (0.73 in, 18.5 mm diameter) and 20 (0.614 in, 15.6 mm), although 4, 8, 10, 14, 16, 24, 28, 32 gauges and the .410 calibre (10 mm) have also been produced.
Chokes on the barrels can control the exiting spread, or pattern of shot. Therefore, shotgun gauges and choke patterns are selected based on the type of shooting to be done.
The proper fit for a user of a shotgun depends largely on the length and shape of the gun's stock. The selection of the proper stock and forend will have a bearing on the user's comfort, accuracy, and control when shooting.
The gauge of a barrel and the type of game are factors in determining what ammunition is to be used. Pump shotguns intended for private defensive use have barrels as short as 18 inches. “Small game” barrels, for hunting game like rabbits and squirrels with buckshot, are often 22 to 24 inches in length. Larger barrels, about 28-29 inches, are used to hunt quails, pheasants, and doves in semi-open wooded or farmland, where dense brush is less of a hindrance and the ability to have more reach is important. Still other barrels, designed for single shot, are used for hunting larger game.
The advent of interchangeable barrels made the shotgun a more versatile firearm, especially in the field. Hunters often swap out barrels for different game.
Shotguns also are used for sports such as skeet, trap, and sporting clays. These involve shooting clay disks, known as clay pigeons, thrown in various ways. Shorter stocks are used for greater maneuverability.
Often, shooters will want to change the forend and or stock to create the proper fit. This happens, sometimes, when there are two shooters (e.g., a husband and wife) sharing the same shotgun. One of the shooters will, more than likely, have an improper fit with the shotgun.
Another instance is with hunters. Often, the hunter will want to switch out the forend and stock to create the proper fit for different game or sporting activity.
The changing of the stock, forend, or both is a time-consuming process. The user has to disassemble portions of the shotgun by using tools when in the field. If the stock is too long, it can get caught in the armpit of the user. If the stock is too short, recoil can cause the scope to hit the eyebrow. An improper fit can also cause during the gun's recoil: the stock to hit the cheek, when the cheek is pressed on the stock to line up the sight and target.
The average woman typically uses a shorter stock than the average man. Forearms have an ergonomic design for comfort, fit and control. Shotgun stocks and forends come in a variety of designs and materials. Selections of the stock and forend will depend upon what the shooter is comfortable with and the use.
To remove existing shotgun stocks, the butt pad has to be taken off first. This requires the user to unscrew the Philips screws holding it in place. Upon removal of the pad, the stock bolt and any metal spacers have to be removed to free the stock from the shotgun or the receiver. The forend currently is either slid onto the magazine tube or over both the magazine tube and barrel.
Some shotgun designs have a screw or another form of locking mechanism for the forend.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,374,528 to Davis et al. discloses a stock mounting kit that uses adaptors. U.S. Pat. No. 5,173,564 to Hammond, Jr. discloses a stock mounting kit using an extension and latch system. Both of these inventions require the use of tools in the field to swap out stocks.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,162,823 to Schoppman et al. (“Schoppman”) discloses a connector for swapping stocks of firearms in the field without specialized tools. Schoppman's depicted connector embodiments are held together by an engagement lug (see FIG. 1 in Schoppman) or by a pull ring (see FIG. 10 in Schoppman). For disassembly, the lug and pin are each designed to be removed entirely from an aligned aperture in a “front” or “first” connector, which is affixed to a receiver of a firearm, to release the connector from a “rear” or “second” connector which is affixed to a firearm stock. Then the engagement lug or pull ring is kept apart from the second connector until an identical second connector, affixed to a different or substitute stock, is slipped into the first connector to form a newly aligned recess or bore. Afterwards, the lug or ring is reinserted into the newly aligned recess. Accordingly, it appears that Schoppman's lug is neither designed nor intended to be retained always within Schoppman's adaptor base.
Applicants have a pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/551,271, entitled “EASY CONNECT STOCK AND FOREND SYSTEM”, and filed Oct. 20, 2006. That application, published as U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0089347, discloses a pre-production model. The current application depicts an improved production model. O.F. Mossberg and Sons, Inc. (“Mossberg”) is the Assignee of both applications.
Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide an improved method and apparatus which permit the quick and easy change of shotgun stocks and forends without the use of tools in the field.
It is another general object to provide an improved connect/disconnect system which permits the quick and easy change of stocks and forends, for any long gun, without the use of tools in the field.
It is a more specific object to provide an improved adaptor assembly for removably interconnecting a stock to a receiver, wherein the adaptor has a tool-less release for changing stocks without the use of tools in the field.
It is another specific object to provide an easy connect/disconnect system for long-gun forends that permits a shooter to attach a different forend without the use of tools.